About seven months ago, I met my World Race squad for the first time. The only things we knew about each other were the things we learned through Facebook posts and messages. We were all pretty much strangers. By the end of training camp, I was put together with six people from my squad who I spent the first four months of the World Race living and doing ministry with. John, Alex, Mardie, Logan, Jocelyn, Shannon, and I became Team Shekinah Glory, which means “the dwelling presence of the Lord.” We hit it off and were all excited about starting off this 11-month mission trip together, though we really didn’t know what to expect from community living. None of us had ever lived in this type of 24/7 community before, but it worked for us. We quickly learned that living in community isn’t as hard as we expected. And we learned that we not only love each other, but we really like each other too. Living with six other 20-somethings was hard at times. There were conflicts, annoyances, and bad attitudes, but there was even more joy, forgiveness, patience, and grace. Most of all, there was a lot of fun. Team Shekinah Glory was full of joy
Living with my first team showed me a kind of friendship that I have never had before. I didn’t have very much in common with any of my teammates and I probably wouldn’t have picked them to be on my team back at training camp, but I am so glad we were put together. Living with them showed me what friendship looks like when each person is pursuing Christ. It’s different and it’s really cool. I feel privileged to have spent four months with them and I have no doubt that God put us together on purpose. I love them a lot and I know they love me too and it’s so nice to know that. I know I can count on them. They have encouraged me immensely and have been really honest with me. They have fought for me in prayer and have pushed me to grow. I know I can tell them anything and that’s really important to me. I’m grateful for how they pointed me to Christ every day, how they loved me so well, how we laughed so hard together, and how we were complete weirdos together.
Team changes snuck up on us last month, and so the cliché “all good things must come to an end” came true. But what’s cool about my life these days is that God has been taking me to greater heights with each new season. My new team is not better or worse than my old team, just different in pretty cool ways. Haley, Morgan, Rachel, Anissa, Taylor, Jennifer, and I form Team Unwritten (yes, named after the Natasha Beddingfield song). These girls are so much fun. I never knew how much I loved my girl time until I came on the World Race and got to hang out with awesome girls all the time. The seven of us make a pretty dynamic team. There is a good mix of silly, smart, serious, gentleness, and sarcasm in all of us. I’ve spent the last six weeks with these girls and I can already see how the Lord is using us to both sharpen and soften one another. The next few months with Team Unwritten are going to be good and I’m looking forward to getting to know them more and seeing what’s in store for us.
